2 June 2006 LostCousins Newsletter
Newsletter - June 2006
CONTENTS
* The International Genealogical Index
* Special offer to attract new members
To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com
To achieve the results that LostCousins members deserve, the membership needs to expand more quickly. We're doing everything we can, but we know that you'd like to see faster results.
So during June we're asking for your help in recruiting new members - and to make it really easy, we're giving you a special code that you can pass on to friends, relatives, and people you meet through sites like Rootsweb, Rootschat, or Genes Reunited.
This code entitles a new member to a FREE one month upgrade to subscriber status. It's not only a good reason to join, it's an incentive for them to enter their relatives from the 1881 Census right away - so we can begin looking for their 'lost cousins'.
Most matches are between a new member and an existing member, so this is a great way to ensure that more of our loyal members find their 'lost cousins'. The special code and full details of the offer can be found later in this newsletter.
Last month we told the strange story of Ruth Belville, the lady who delivered the time to her clients in the London area.
Another way to find out the correct time before the advent of radio time signals was to use the telegraph, and one of our members, Bob, wrote to us from Canada to tell us about an interesting story he'd found in the records of the Toronto Insane Asylum.
Apparently there was a jeweller from a small town who early each morning would obtain the correct time by telegraph, then spend the rest of the day going around the town trying to persuade everyone to set their watches to the exact, telegraphed time.
How times have changed!
Did you know that you can search the 1881 Census at Ancestry.co.uk by occupation? Just type the occupation in the 'Keywords' box.
One of our members in England, Judy, wrote to tell us about a family she'd found in the 1881 Census where some of the occupations given suggested that the head of household had an interesting sense of humour:
Stuart J. FORBES Head 34 Master Mariner
Isabel F. FORBES Wife 36 Keeping House & Nursing Children
Adelaid F. FORBES Daur 2 Eating Drinking Sleeping Etc
Janet R. CHURCHILL Mother In Law 68 Writing
Grace A. CHURCHILL Sister In Law 33 Feeding The Hungry Clothing The Naked
(RG11/3058 Folio 78 Page 19)
Did any of your relatives have unusual occupations recorded on the 1881 Census?
THE INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX
One of the most valuable resources for family historians is the International Genealogical Index (usually referred to as the IGI).
Compiled by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), it is available online at the free FamilySearch site. The British Isles is very well represented - not just England & Wales, but Scotland and Ireland too.
There are two types of entry, and it's important to distinguish between them. Many were transcribed from baptism and marriage registers by volunteers as part of a systematic project. These entries were carefully checked and are almost always accurate.
Other entries have been submitted by individual members of the Church, and usually appear with the note "Record submitted after 1991 by a member of the LDS Church".
These entries are often no more than speculative guesses, and should usually be completely disregarded, particularly when no precise date and location are given.
Note that the IGI is a partial index - some parishes are not covered at all, and others only for certain periods. The easiest way to find out whether the parish you're interested in is included is to visit Hugh Wallis's site (see your My Links page).
It's always a good idea to get a copy of the source record if you can - which may means a trip to the records office or archives holding the relevant register.
But there are also hundreds of LDS Family History Centres around the world which can usually obtain microfilm copies of registers on your behalf at a very low cost.
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp
These centres are open to all researchers, not just members of the church and wherever you are in the world there's a good chance you'll find one near you!
You should be aware that the IGI doesn't usually give the entire register entry. For example, after 1813 baptism registers show the father's address and occupation - but you won't see this information in the IGI.
Similarly, from 1753 onwards marriage registers show the signatures of all the participants, including the witnesses. Sometimes just knowing whether someone could sign their own name is a valuable clue.
Nevertheless the IGI is an incredibly valuable resource, one that it's well worth getting to know.
SPECIAL OFFER TO ATTRACT NEW MEMBERS
During June we want to attract as many new members to LostCousins as possible so that we can find more 'lost cousins' for our existing members.
Your offer code is: JUN52873
Please pass this code to any friend or relative you think might be interested in joining LostCousins - or to people you meet through forums such as Rootsweb, Rootschat, or Genes Reunited.
The code will give the new member one free month as a subscriber provided they enter it in the 'Codes' box on the Registration page, and activate their account by logging-in before the end of June.
We expect that most new members will take the opportunity to enter lots of their relatives during their free month - leading to many more matches and 'lost cousins'!
Although marriage certificates are very useful documents, if somebody married in England & Wales you can often find out who their spouse was without paying 7 pounds for a certificate!
Let's suppose you're trying to find out who William Shakespeare married. Not THE William Shakespeare, but someone of that name who married between the 1871 and 1881 Censuses.
FreeBMD records 12 William Shakespeares who married between the 2nd quarter of 1871 and the 1st quarter of 1881. There may have been others - remember FreeBMD is only a partial index - but let's focus on these 12.
If you've found William in 1881 you probably know his wife's forename. At FreeBMD you can enter the names of both spouses when you search for a marriage, even though the spouse's surname was not included in the indexes until 1913!
That's because there are usually only 2 (or 4) marriages on each page. Therefore there are only 2 (or 4 people) who could be the other party in the marriage.
Suppose that William's wife was called Mary - if you search at FreeBMD for a William Shakespeare who married someone called Mary between 1871-81 then just two results are returned.
If you click on the page number for the first one, this is what you see:
Marriages Jun 1872
DAMTON Mary Nottingham 7b 470
Felstead Sarah Ann Nottingham 7b 470
SANSOM Thomas Nottingham 7b 470
Shakespeare William Nottingham 7b 470
Although it's tempting to assume that the two names in capitals make up a couple (leaving William marrying Sarah Ann), there's actually no significance in the capital letters - it's just the way the person transcribing the index entry wrote it down.
So this William could have married either Sarah Ann or Mary. But if you search the 1881 Census at FamilySearch for a Mary Sansom married to a William you won't find any such couple living in Nottingham, or anywhere nearby.
On the other hand if you search for a Sarah Sansom where the head of household is Thomas Sansom, you'll find a Sarah A Sanson aged 27 living in Nottingham with her husband Thomas.
So it's quite likely that Mary Damton married William Shakespeare. You'll need to consider all the other evidence before deciding that this is the right couple, but it's usually possible to be 99% certain without having to order the certificate.
AND FINALLY......
A big thank you to the LostCousins 'buddies' who have been working particularly hard recently breaking down brick walls on behalf of other members.
If you could use some help from one of our 'buddies' - it's free and confidential - just email info@LostCousins.com with the words 'Help wanted' as the subject, and details of your problem in the main part of the message.
The LostCousins Team
http://www.LostCousins.com
info@LostCousins.com
© Copyright 2006 Peter Calver & Lost Cousins Ltd
Please do NOT copy or republish any part of this newsletter without permission - which is only granted in the most exceptional circumstances. However, you MAY link to this newsletter or any article in it without asking for permission - though why not invite other family historians to join LostCousins instead, since standard membership (which includes the newsletter), is FREE?